Turn your inbox from a to-do list into a place to triage

For many of us, you’ve got some control over your inbox for the majority of your workweek but you sometimes resort to leaving messages in your inbox as a defacto to-do list.

Kind of like how you leave your voicemails with their red dots, your text messages unread and leave things on the kitchen bench with your keys to remember them as you leave the house.

If you’re looking to change this habit, here’s some quick fixes:

If your CRM connects up with Gmail, like Copper, you can create tasks for your email and snooze your email.

If you’re using a sales pipeline like Pipedrive, you can set up Sales Inbox for two-way email sync or can use their Smart Email Bcc feature. Create a new activity for the email and you can archive from your main inbox.

If you’re using Asana, you can forward the email to x@mail.asana.com if it’s your main Asana account email. This will create a task in your My Tasks section. To add to a specific project, visit the project & click on the drop-down next to the Project name, selecting Import > Email and following along.

If you’re using Things 3, you can forward your email to your secret email address and have the email transform into a task list item.

To level up a little, you can add the forwarding email address to your email contacts (i.e. add “Email To Asana” as the company name and x@mail.asana.com as the email address in your email address book) so it will autocomplete in the To: field.

To level up a little more, it you’re using WordPress/cPanel for your website and emails, you can login to your cPanel, select Forwarders and set up a tasks@yourdomain . com address that forwards to one of the above addresses.

About the author

Rich Peterson

I've spent the last 10 years planning, mapping & reimagining the processes of hundreds of SMBs. Whether the goal is more money, more time, more clarity or more customer smiles, my insightful process is worth every minute for my successful clients.
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Disclaimer: I use affiliate links on my website and only recommend what I use, have used or have vetted in the best interest of my readers. I may earn a commission if you click on an affiliate link, but it won’t cost you extra.

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About

For the past 10 years, we’ve worked with hundreds of clients and tens of thousands of students to help them get a clear picture of how to systemise their business. We’re not fans of spam, cheap mass-marketing tactics or automating your business to within an inch of it’s life. We are fans of a customer experience where humans deal with humans, skills are appreciated, personality is maintained and where clients get more value than they expected. We’re also fans of automating any process that doesn’t deliver client-facing value in a simple, easy-to-maintain way.

In a nutshell, we provide advice, implementation support & training to small to medium, service-based businesses to help them deliver a better customer experience & a more automated workflow. Everyone on the same page, moving in the same direction with a clear picture of who does what.
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